Begining Where It Ends
by WeetzieBat
Summary: Ranma and Akane's relationship is stretched to it's limits. Now, Akane must learn to live a life without Ranma in it.


Beginning Where It Ends  
  
Prologue  
  
There was another fight. It had been the worst they ever had before. It had always been that way between the two. He would say something stupid, she'd take it the wrong way, and so the battles would commence. At one point they both knew that the day would come when they pushed the fighting to unbearable limits to where they both either cracked and finally admit their true feelings for each other, or explode and end up hating each other. This was the fight that decided their fate and it had been the latter circumstance that was chosen for the two.   
  
****  
"Falling Between the Cracks"  
  
'Two weeks since he left', she thought. Maybe this time he wouldn't come back. Akane couldn't stop thinking about that fight since it had happened. Words were exchanged that had never been said before. They both attacked by saying things that would hurt and neither was going to back down.   
  
**Flashback**  
  
" You're nothing but a WEAK GIRL!!" the exclamation escaped Akane's mouth before she had a chance to stop it and she caught a glimpse at the boy's (who, at the moment, was a girl) reaction standing before her. She saw the look of utter devastation at the blow to his manhood in his eye, before it turned into raw anger.  
  
"WEAK?! You call me the weak one?! That's more to say from a chick who's constantly being rescued by this poor 'weak girl'!" she pointed to herself as she yelled the statement.  
  
"But your no more feminine then you are a martial artist, so I guess I had no other choice but to save you, didn't I?" the red-head smirked at the reaction she caused, but that smile was not one of happiness. She had meant to hurt her fiancée and she wasn't about to heed until Akane decided to end this.  
  
Akane decided to do just that. She cracked.  
"I never asked you to come!" she proclaimed.  
  
"I never wanted you or any of the others! If you'd ask me, I would have dumped the lot of you a long time ago!"  
  
"Then why don't you, you coward! You're just like your father; you never wanted to be a part of my family, you just wanted to mooch off them far as long as you could! You'd eat us all out of house and home before you ever realized that me, nor my sisters never wanted you to stay in the first place!"   
  
The last comment was one that he hadn't expected. And in cold rage, the only thing he had in mind was to hit her.  
  
In that last statement she had begrudged him everything. The Tendo Dojo was the first place were he had love and stability and even though he had a hard time showing it, he would always consider the Tendos as part of his blood. She denied him everything he had with that one angry reply and he felt so much shame in both himself and her that he could not think of any thing to come back with, so he struck.  
  
He hit Akane in the face, and he meant to do it. He wouldn't take it back. Her words stung far worse then his slap could have and so with that the battle ended and he promised her he'd never want to see her again. She promised him the same, and soon after he was gone.  
  
**End Flashback**  
  
Two weeks since that miserable day. She still wore her pride on her sleeve, so she didn't take any of what she said back. How could she when he slapped her? That was the highest form of distrust imaginable. She hated him more then she was jealous of him, now. Yet, she couldn't help but miss him.   
  
The fight was witnessed by all the occupants of the Tendo household, and it was hard for them to even face Akane, less talk to her. Everyone blamed her and she couldn't understand why. She couldn't sleep that night and decided that the best medicine to take her mind off the event was to take a long walk.   
  
In her thick, yellow pajamas and bare feet, Akane walked the streets of Nerima. She took her jogging route and after what seemed like hours of thinking and contemplating, she noticed the cold weather wear down her small feet. She also noticed that she strayed from her route and was now in the 'Night Life' district of Nerima. Clubs and bars were open all around her. She felt awkward in her state of dress and it didn't go unnoticed to the attendants of the clubs that night. The young couples waiting in line to pay admission gawked at her form of dress, but Akane actually felt apathetic to the situation.   
  
She still had other things on her mind. Two weeks. Two weeks of an eternity of never seeing HIM again. Everything was so different, she felt so alone without him and so unwanted because she took the blame for driving him away. She wanted to react. She wanted to rebel, but without Ranma, there just wasn't any more fun in the game she had played. Kasumi gave her the silent treatment, her father wouldn't even give her the pleasure of glancing her way, but it was Nabiki who was the most affective in telling Akane where she stood in the family. Her elder sister explained that Ranma was as much a part of the family as anyone else. She told Akane that the words she used to drive her former fiancée away were lower than anything Nabiki herself would ever use. She then went to the extent of calling Akane the "official, self-centered bitch of the family." Nabiki! Of all people, this was the person that had ruined her wedding, endangering herself and her family; this was the person who blackmailed Ranma every opportunity available. Akane had reached the platue in her life, and now she was about to fall off it.  
  
At that moment, while walking past the clubs, Akane felt like crying and she would have utterly dropped on her knees and sobbed to death had she not run into a man with a green Mohawk who happened to be carrying a heavy load of band equipment. The run-in had caused half the things he was carrying to fall from his hands to the ground in a loud clatter. Half of a drum set lay strewn on the floor and the man with the green Mohawk, dark brown eyes, and a very tall physique looked at Akane as though she was Satan incarnate.   
  
While he gave her that evil glare, Akane dove for every piece of equipment lying on the ground. She didn't need the reason for this man's anger on her already fragile conscience. After she held all the pieces of equipment that had fallen in her arms, she looked up at the tall man with an apologetic smile. The cresses made on his forehead faded away and he decided the girl in front of him was worth forgiving. With his equipment in tow, he directed Akane toward the small, run-down bar his concert would be held in. After placing the drum set on a small stage he introduced himself.   
  
"The names Tomo, I'm a musician in the band that's playin' here...."a thought occurred to him and he looked at Akane with eager eyes, "Are you a fan or something?"  
  
Akane couldn't help but smile; Tomo was the first person that had given her the slightest bit of attention since Ranma left. She wanted nothing more then to bask in the feeling of elation but Tomo was waiting for a reply, so she smiled up at him and replied, without much thought involved, "Hi, my names Akane, nice to meet ya!"  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTES:  
Well, that ends the first chapter of Beginning Where It Ends. It's my first fanfic ever so I really need all the C&C I can get. At the very least, please tell me whether you liked the fic or not because I don't know if I'm going to keep writing.   



End file.
